Death be not Proud
by Augustus Sinclair
Summary: At one point in every man's life he has to stop and ask himself a question. Am I man or am I a slave? Follow Andrew Ryan as he discovers the answer to that question after he escapes the attempt on his life by his son. Please read and review. Thank you.
1. Return to the Surface

**Death be not Proud**

**Prologue**

"…I know that I cannot raise my hand against you. But know this, you are my greatest disappointment. Does your master hear me? Atlas! You can kill me, but you will never have my city! My strength is not in steel or fire, that is what the parasites will never understand. A season for all things! A time to live and a time to die! A time to build and a time to DESTROY! Come now my child, there is one final thing to discuss."

"The assassin has overcome my final defense. And now he's come to murder me. In the end was separates a man from a slave? Money? Power? No, a man chooses…a slave obeys. You think you have memories. A farm, a family, an airplane, a crash and then this place. Was there really a family? Did that airplane crash? Or was it hijacked? Forced down, forced down by something less then a man something bred, sleepwalked trough life until they are activated by a simple phrase spoken by their kindly master. Was a man sent to kill or a slave? A man chooses…a slave obeys. Come in. Stop…would you kindly. Would you kindly…powerful phrase, familiar phrase? Sit would you kindly? Stand would you kindly? Run…stop…turn. A man chooses…a slave obeys. Kill! A…man…chooses! A slave obeys………OBEY!!!!!!!!"

"Hurry now, grab Ryan's genetic key! Now, would you kindly put it in that god damn machine?" Atlas' voice yelled out of the radio. Jack proceeded as he was commanded. After he found out that Atlas was actually Fontaine and escaped the security bots Ryan stepped from the shadows.

**Chapter I**

**Return to the surface**

For the first time Andrew Ryan thought back on what he had done. If he hadn't of killed Diane his son that had just killed his clone wouldn't be a slave to Frank Fontaine. He would be but a toddler being cradled in his mother's hands on the surface. He realized now that he had abandoned every ideal that brought him to build Rapture in the first place.

"I am not a man. I am a slave." He said looking down at the clone's body. Rapture had fell, his life's work in shambles. "No! It will not end like this." Andrew Ryan knew what must be done. I must return to the surface and rebuild my city, he thought.

He walked toward the back wall of his office. He placed his hand on what looked like a simple bit of wall. It lit up a bluish green as if scanning his hand. A secret door opened and he walked in. Ryan descended a flight of stairs to his personal bathysphere. He pulled the lever the rusty machinery jolted as it quickly ascended to the surface. He worried for his newly discovered son. But somehow…he knew he would be alright. On the way up his stomach was cut deeply with regret as he watched the skyline of his beloved city slowly vanish in the depths of the ocean. Once he could not see it anymore the bathysphere reached the top. He pressed a couple of buttons and it moved forward. "I should make landfall somewhere in Rhode Island." His stomach was cut even deeper when he realized he had to return to the country he once loved but now despised.

Two days passed while Ryan sat in the bathysphere eating crème filled cakes and bags of potato chips. When the bathysphere finally ran a ground he was in Rhode Island in what appeared to be a wooded area. There was snow on the ground and he could see a single house in the distance with smoke rising out of its chimney. He opened up the glass door and stepped out. He then pressed a button on the outside of it that made it return to its place in Rapture.

Ryan treaded through a couple of yards of water. He was cold and now his feet were freezing. He walked quickly towards the house. As he approached he could hear joyous singing…Christmas carols. Once Rapture went to hell he never really kept track of the date. Time was meaningless in a city filled with crazed splicers. He walked up the front steps and knocked three times on the door. The singing ceased once he knocked. An aged man answered the door.

"Can I help you?" He asked Ryan.

"Yes, I'm probably going to sound crazy but I am in Rhode Island right?"

"Yes."

"And where is the closest town?"

"About thirty miles that way." The old man pointed west. Andrew Ryan looked at the lone road that seemed to wind through the woods forever. An old woman walked up to the door beside the man.

"Tom, ask the man inside." She said to the man. She looked at Andrew, "You must be freezing out there honey. C'mon inside and warm up for a bit."

"Thank you." Ryan said to the old woman. He stepped inside the cozy, quaint house.

"My names Betty and that is my husband Tom."

"I am Andrew Ryan."

"Andrew Ryan?" Betty paused for a moment. "Name sounds familiar. Do I know you from somewhere?"

"No, I'm new here."

"How'd you wonder all the way out here anyway?" Tom asked.

"My boat broke down a few miles out and I had to ride my motor back to land."

"It looks like you been wearin' those clothes for a while now." Betty said.

"I've been away for a long time." Ryan said, his mind wondering.

"Were you been?"

"In my city that's very far from here."

"Oh so you're a mayor?"

"Not anymore."

"What happened?"

"It fell…I mean my term ended."

"Oh." There was a long pause.

"I need to get to the town. Is there a taxi service I could call?" Ryan asked.

"There ain't no taxis around here son." Tom replied.

"I'll take you to town after dinner." Tom said.

"Would you like to join us?" Betty asked.

"I don't want to impose." Ryan said.

"Oh you could never. C'mon and eat with us." Betty said. "Before dinner you can go upstairs and take you a bath I get ya some fresh clothes too." Betty whispered to him.

"Oh really you don't have too."

"Nonsense."

"You're too kind." Ryan said. Ryan noticed a Christmas tree in the corner of his eye.

"Is it Christmas?"

"Of course it is." Tom said. "How could ya not know that?"

"We don't really celebrate Christmas where I'm from."

"That's too bad. It's my favorite time of the year. We don't really get company out here for Christmas anymore."

"Anymore?" Ryan asked.

"Our son and his family died a few years back in an accident." Tom said. Andrew noticed Betty's eyes tearing up.

"I am so sorry."

"It's fine." Tom said.

"I too know what it's like to lose a child. It's the worst thing a person can ever experience.

"Yes it is." Betty stated. Ryan then took his leave to clean his unwashed body before he ate with the family. Weird, he thought. The people acted like they knew him. Asking him, a complete stranger to eat dinner with them Christmas dinner for that matter, offering them their shower and clothes. This old couple must really be lonely. His mind continued to ponder his situation.

After he was finished washing and put on his loaned clothes he joined Betty and Tom for dinner. Betty had set out a large turkey along his various side dishes, enough food to feed an entire army.

"Thank you for your generous amounts of food Betty." Ryan said.

"You're welcome child. We knew you'd be hungry."

"What?" Ryan stopped mannerly cutting into his turkey.

"We knew you'd be hungry, you mustn't have had a decent thing to eat for at least two years now."

"How did you know I was coming?" He asked astonished.

"Sometimes splicing up lets you see into the future." Tom interjected.

"Sad thing what happened to that place, but child, you must've never heard the saying 'the road to hell is paved with good intentions'." Betty enthused.

"We're from Rapture."


	2. Back to Business

**Death be not Proud**

**Chapter II**

**Back to Business**

Andrew Ryan looked at his host with fear in his eyes. He knew not of anyone besides himself that escaped from Rapture. The only thing that remained is that they were Fontaine's men; he could not see the parts of the city that Fontaine controlled.

"Thank you for the meal but I must go now." Ryan said throwing down his napkin.

"Now don't fret." Betty said moving her hands down.

"We didn't choose sides in the war." Tom stated.

"We thought it best if we didn't choose and just try to stay out of it for our grandson's sake." Betty declared. Andrew Ryan said nothing; he just stared at his hosts, speechless. Usually he found himself knowing all the right things to say but ever since he had his encounter with his son his mind was blank.

There was a long pause at the table. Finally Betty broke the silence. "When the war broke out…Our son went out and spliced his self all up. Eventually he went crazy and tried to kill us all…Tom…Tom had to…put em' down. Because of that God damn Atlas makin' everyone turn against each other."

"We should've never moved to that damn city." Tom breathed wiping a tear from his eye.

"Things were just fine the way they were, yeah we workers had to put up with a lot but no reason to go out and start a war. So many families torn apart by men like you!" Betty blazed. She looked at Ryan with hate burning in her eyes but it quickly faded.

"We were holed up for awhile in Persephone, until that damn woman brought all her goons with her and took it from us."

"That's when they got him…our grandson." Betty choked on her words.

"I tried my best, but those splicers have the strength of a thousand men." Tom got up from the table and walked into the other room.

"Our entire lives were ruined in that city. Just because you wouldn't help out the poor people, you took our family away from us. Now you must pay!" Betty screamed at the top of her lungs. Andrew receded in his chair getting ready to jump up and dash for the door. Tom walked in with what looked like a fully upgraded Tommy gun from Fontaine Futuristics. Ryan jumped out of his chair, knocking it back into a stand filled with china. As the plates shattered all over the floor Ryan ran as fast as he could towards the door. He swung it open and slammed it shut. He then dove off of the porch. At that moment, a thousand bullets boomed through the closed door sending wooden fragments all over Ryan's back.

He quickly arose from the ground, he ran for an old beat up truck in the drive way. When he made it to the truck Tom stepped out of the doorway, Tommy gun in hand. He opened fire on Ryan's position leaving bullet holes all along the side of the vehicle. Ryan opened the door; he noticed the keys were still in the ignition, he jumped in lying down along the seat trying to start it.

When the truck started he drove off down the twisting road still being fired upon by Tom. By the time he got away the truck was riddled with bullet holes.

"A day in the life." He said to himself shaking his head. He didn't really know what to do now besides get the hell away from here. He'd been gone for so long, fourteen years, enough time for everything to be different.

As Andrew Ryan finally arrived in the large town apparently some sort of festival was going on. He slowed his speed as people dressed in very odd colorful clothes were running across the streets. He starred wide eyed as they danced on top of their cars. "Where the hell am I?" he asked himself. All of the sudden a young man slapped the hood of his truck and ran up to the open window.

"Get out and join the love man!" He announced raising his alcoholic drink in the air.

"Don't get that close I can smell you from here!" Ryan exclaimed then sped away. Once he was out of the most populated part of the main road he pulled into a parking space in front of a shop. He sat there looking back at the crowd of dancing young people. He felt his coat looking for his cigarettes. He felt a lump, he thought it was them but when he pulled it out of his lapel he discovered it was a wad of cash. He had a thousand dollars on him that he had completely forgotten about. He looked up and discovered a suit shop in front of him. He looked down at his; it had stains all over it from not being able to wash it for a long, long time.

Ryan stepped out of his vehicle and walked into the store. "Hello sir." The shop keep said to him as he walked through the door.

"Good evening. May I ask, what is going on out there?" Ryan asked. The shop keep grimaced.

"Those damn dirty hippies, ruining our town."

"Hippies?"

"Those youngsters out there that think they can just go around doing whatever they want, thinking they don't have to follow the rules but I got news for them…" The shop keep continued to rant to himself.

"Oh."

"Well, what can I do ya for?"

"I was looking to buy a new suit."

"Do you have any specifics?"

"Yes, black pin stripe if you have it."

"Pin stripe? Pin stripe hasn't been in style since the forty's. But I think I might have a couple 'vintage' ones in the back." The shop keep motioned Ryan to follow him. The man pulled an old box out from under a stack and dusted it off. "Looks like I only have three here, there all the same size too. Here, try this on." The man handed Ryan the coat. As luck would have it, it fit perfectly. "Looks like your in luck pal."

"How much for all three?" Ryan asked.

"Well, I don't think I'll be sellin' these to anyone besides you so…I'll give em' to ya for fifty bucks." Ryan took a fifty out of the stack and handed it to the man.

"Do you know where I can get a map?"

"What? Are you lost or something?"

"Or something."

"You can go guy a road map at the gas station just down the road there." He pointed south. Ryan returned to his truck, he drove down the road to the gas station the shop keep spoke of. He bought a map from the front counter.

"May I ask what town is this?" He asked the clerk attending the counter.

"This is Charlestown mister." The clerk replied. Ryan examined the map until he found Charlestown. He needed to go to Chicago. He had an old friend there; a very rich old friend who wouldn't have went to Rapture even if Ryan had invited him.

Rutherford Sinclair, brother of Augustus Sinclair. Apparently making money was in their blood. A southern man who had a knack for making reliable, quality auto car parts and turned it into the largest auto part manufacturer in the nation or it was before Ryan left for Rapture. But it was Andrew Ryan's best bet in recovering Ryan industries as a whole.

When Ryan left he left his company in it's entirety to Rutherford. He was his best friend, met him when he first came to America to seek fortune to build his city under the ocean. Ryan had mentioned in a joking manner to Rutherford his plans to build Rapture but Rutherford expressed his feelings about it. He said that it would just be running away from the flaws in society and he would rather live his life trying to fix it instead of just running away.

"Is there any places around here that rents vehicles?" Ryan questioned the clerk who was reading what looked to be a trashy novel.

"I rent cars." The clerk replied. Then he pointed to a small lot in the left hand side of the lot. Ryan looked and saw weird looking sedans that were rusted over.

"Are you the only one?"

"Yep."

"Well then, I think I'll just take my truck." Ryan turned to leave, the bullet riddled truck made a loud creaking noise then all four of the tires fell off. The body of it smashed to the ground. The clerk set down his book and starred at Ryan. "On second thought, I'll rent."

Ryan finally got back on the road, his destination Chicago, Illinois to reunite with Rutherford Sinclair. The clerk at the station said that it would probably take him a day if not two to get to Chicago.

After about ten hours of driving it was late and Andrew Ryan was horribly tired. He had made it too Kaseville, Pennsylvania. He looked for a hotel but sadly it was a small town and a roach motel was his only option. He pulled his rusted sedan into the parking lot then walked in to the lobby.

When he arrived in his room he hesitated to open the door afraid of what might be on the other side. He hadn't slept in anything less then luxury for the past thirty years. He slowly inched the door open and to his surprise the quarters weren't too shabby. He walked in; he threw the bad containing his newly acquired suits in it on the bed.

After Ryan was finished showering he laid down on the cardboard like bed. His mind reverted back to his illegitimate son. He hadn't thought about it since he had gotten off of the bathysphere, due to all the excitement of the day. Ryan thought of his face, it looked a lot like his mother's, though he had Ryan's eyes. Andrew Ryan's eyes began to water up. He wanted to know his son; he wanted to spend time with him. He never knew what it was like to stare into the face of your own flesh and blood. Only he had to experience it for the first time as he was trying to kill him. If he had not of sent his clone he would be dead right now by the hand of his son. The thing that cut into the pit of his stomach the most was that he did not know whether he was alright or not. Ryan knew that he had gotten away from Fontaine then but now he could be dead at the hand of that maniac. But he had a feeling…

The sun was shining bright into Andrew Ryan's eyes. The cheap motel apparently couldn't afford to buy curtains for the windows. Ryan smiled at the warming sensation it caused him. He hadn't felt that in years. Ryan arose from his cardboard bed and dressed himself in his new suit. He still had a long way to go until he made it to Chicago. Ryan spent the entire day driving and when he couldn't drive anymore he stayed the night in another roach motel.

The next day Ryan finally made it too Chicago. The city looked vastly different. He saw a few of those 'hippies' from time to time. After looking at all the changes made he started to worry weather Rutherford's business building was even in the same place.

After about thirty minutes of driving in city traffic Ryan finally made it. He stepped out of his car, a large statue of Atlas holding the world on his shoulders stood in the front-center of a gigantic building. A huge sign that read "Sinclair Industries" hung on the building.

Ryan walked into the bustling building then proceeded to the elevator. He looked on the sign to see what level Sinclair's office was on. "One-hundred and ten." Ryan said to himself. He's moved up in the world. He thought. Ryan stepped into the crowded elevator and pressed the number he needed. It took him a good ten minutes but he finally made it to the top.

He walked up to the office secretary's desk. "Hello, I'm here to see Mr. Sinclair." He said to the pretty young woman.

"Do you have an appointment?" She asked.

"Yes, I'm…" Ryan looked down at her list. "I'm Geoffrey Galt."

"Ah yes." The young woman pressed a button. "Mr. Sinclair, your ten o'clock is here."

"Send him in." A voice said back. Andrew Ryan walked through the big wooden double door that led into Rutherford's office. He was looking down at some papers and scribbling on them when Ryan made his way to a chair that sat in front of his desk.

When Sinclair finally looked up he noticed that he was not Geoffrey Galt. "You're not Mr. Galt. Sarah!" He exclaimed.

"Be quiet Rutherford!" Ryan yelled. "I am Andrew Ryan."

"Don't be an idiot. Andrew Ryan had been dead since 1946. Sarah!"

"Look at me you buffoon! You've known me for a long time you must remember what my face looks like."

"You must have got one of those new plastic surgeries to make yourself look like him. Sarah!"

"I know how you gained control over Ryan Industries."

"You and the entire world buddy."

"Um…You are a very gifted pianist."

"You could have read that in my biography. Sarah!"

"In 1935, you kissed all over a woman who you later found out was your cousin."

"Sar…"

"Yes Mr. Sinclair?" Sarah said after she burst through the doors.

"Never mind." Sinclair said to her. His eyes wide with utter surprise. "You can go now Sarah." He said motioning for her to leave. "How in the hell did you…"

"I can explain."

"You better, letting me think you were dead for fourteen years."

"Remember when I told you about my desire to build a city under the ocean to escape the parasite?" Ryan asked.

"Yes, but I thought you were just being a drunken fool."

"No, I only did that to gage your reaction. I wanted to see if you would ever want such a thing. When I discovered that you did not, I never said anything to you again but I did. I built Rapture."

"Rapture?"

"My city under the Atlantic Ocean."

"Then what are you doing back here?"

"My city…it fell to the parasite…a civil war broke out between the peoples…I tired as hard as I could to regain control but none of it worked…finally the man who started the war, Frank Fontaine…"

"Frank Fontaine?" Rutherford wondered aloud. "Frank Fontaine was a big time mobster here in the city but he's been dead since 1946." Rutherford tone changed when he made the connection. "Why did the war start."

"With the discovery of Adam."

"Adam?"

"It was a genetic material found in a deep ocean sea slug, unstable stem cells that aloud the user to change out cells with these unstable stem cells to change their genetic make up. People became a lot stronger, faster, and smarter. We could even summon electricity, fire, and ice in our hands. Men could move gigantic objects with their minds. But eventually if they spliced their original cells with these unstable stem cells it took away their sanity and drove them to kill over the addictive Adam. Babies were strangled in their cribs, children stabbed to death in their beds. Evil overcame the city. I barely escaped with my life."

"Okay…now you're just lying to me."

"Have I ever lied to you?"

"I guess not. But how do you expect me to believe a story like that? Yes, I do believe you built your city. But the whole fire in your hands bit really lost me."

"Maybe this will prove it to you." Ryan pulled a few pictures out of his pocket depicting the Sea slug, the splicers with the fire in their hands, the little sisters, the big daddies, and an outside look of Rapture.

"Oh my god. How is this possible?"

"Anything is possible my dear friend." Ryan said to him. "But to tell you my life story isn't why I came here today."

"Then what is?"

"I need control of Ryan Industries again so I can rebuild my city."

"Why the hell would you want to relive that nightmare?" Sinclair interrogated.

"I will admit there are a few changes I would make. There is no place for me up here."

"I think your making a big mistake."

"I don't think so."

"Alright, you can have Ryan Industries but I don't want any part in this."

"Thank you old friend."


End file.
